About a Hat
by Shade Nightwalker
Summary: A promising evening turned out to be nothing less than the expected enjoyment but held a lot of trouble instead. (Excerpt of the longer story "Revelation")


**Author's note:** I published this excerpt of the story because it was inspired by a Facebook group. I wanted to share this part with its members separately, because the complete story won't be everybody's cup of tea.

Again, many thanks to Avoca for proofreading the story.

 **About a Hat**

Jed 'Kid' Curry would go out tonight. There was no question about that, especially for Heyes, who had known him since childhood.

When they met that beautiful brunette at the grocery store in the morning, where they stocked up their supplies, it had been obvious within minutes how he would spend the night.

They had run their errands and afterwards the Kid started his arrangements for a successful evening. A hot bath, clean clothes and even a visit to the barbers were on his schedule.

Heyes's brazen silver tongue, which had teased him throughout the afternoon, finally silenced. Its owner had settled down on the bed with a tattered book and wished his partner only casually a good night when he left. Refreshed, shiny and in good spirits he headed for his dinner date. Well, anyone who knew the Kid and his way with women knew it would be a long evening. Nobody would expect him back until the crack of dawn.

But the evening turned out to be nothing like what had been anticipated.

Well, the dinner had been tasty and the company appetizing, apparently for both of them for she invited him to escort her to her place after dessert. Obviously, she had more on her mind than coffee, rather a second more intimate kind of dessert. Like expected they ended up in her bedroom, their clothes carelessly spread over the floor. Lively laughing and churning up the sheets they started their game of love.

The tide turned with a sudden sound at the front door. They startled and listened, holding their breath. Footsteps sounded in the hallway.

Then a harsh male voice called: "Ellie?"

Kid Curry's bedmate paled. "Brock. He's back!"

"Who is Brock?" the Kid asked suspiciously.

"My husband."

"Your ...?" the blond outlaw cursed under his breath. "You're married and you didn't feel it necessary to tell me that?"

"Why? It would just have spoiled the fun. He was at the livestock market in Dayton and shouldn't have returned before Friday. Why get worried about a meaningless one-nighter?"

She couldn't have said anything that would have turned him off faster and it left a foul taste. He had always believed there were two winners in this game, but she raised the question of someone being taken advantage of – and who that 'someone' was. As she revealed her true face, he suddenly felt used. His temper awoke.

"Ellie?!" the rough voice sounded louder and strict now.

"Up here, darling. Just changing. I'll be down in a minute!" she flirted back before she gave her former object of desire an impatient look. "Go! Quickly!"

Kid Curry was rather in the mood to start a fight, but knew it would do no good for anyone, neither for himself nor Ellie, the unfaithful temptation. It wasn't a matter of reason. His protective streak was just stronger than his anger. After all there was still the chance to slip away undiscovered so she could get away with her lie. He asked himself how many times this strategy had worked out for her before.

"You do have your share of experience with this, do you? Him, too?" Curry whispered upset while he jumped out of the bed and gathered his clothing. Footsteps sounded on the stairs. The Kid opened the window and took a peek around. The ground didn't look too inviting for him but there was no other way out. He wound his gun-belt around the bundle with his clothes and threw it out of the window.

"Ellie!?" the voice in front of the door sounded suspicious now.

"It could have been such a nice evening. Please don't bother looking out for me again," Curry snarled sarcastically and jumped out of the window.

At the very moment he hit the ground, the door violently clanged open. He heard two voices arguing and shouting. Obviously, the cuckold husband didn't buy her scam. Without a second thought Kid Curry grabbed his belongings and started running. Behind him two shots rang out.

It was intriguing how fast a man could run - even barefooted - if only the incentive was big enough. To his misfortune a full moon lit up the night and made him an easy target. Kid Curry – the fastest gun in the West in many ways that night - didn't stop until he ran out of breath. Panting he stopped in a shady corner at the outskirts of the town.

As fast as possible he slipped into his clothes. What had started as a promising evening had turned into a disaster. His mood dropped even more when he noticed that his hat was missing. One of them back there owned a pretty good trophy now. Whether it was the husband or the wife he would never know...


End file.
